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As I am writing these words, there are more than 90,000 people watching the top five games listed on Twitch.tv. While likely a miniscule audience compared to the number of people watching Netflix, Hulu or HBOGo, there is something remarkable to me that as many people as live in Albany, New York are at this moment relaxing somewhere, taking in someone else’s play session of League of Legends, World of WarCraft, StarCraft 2, DOTA 2 or Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

So apparently, I’m not alone.

There can be at any one moment a couple hundred thousand people watching games on Twitch.tv. The popular streamers, like Day[9] for example, can attract ten thousand or more people for any one broadcast. When there is an event, that number can leap dramatically. That’s not limited to e-sports, either. Last November the group Loading Ready Run attracted significant viewership for their Desert Bus for Hope event, and raised nearly a half million dollars in charity donations from viewers. Streaming marathons often provide remarkable spikes in attention and viewers.

That’s to say nothing of the equally staggering numbers that casters and streamers can attract through YouTube. Popular streamers like TotalBiscuit can attract as many as a half-million viewers to any single upload. While it’s nothing like the kind of audience you might get for your average prime-time procedural drama, it is getting within the ballpark of basic cable numbers. Taken in the macro, however, with more than 1 billion unique visitors per month, YouTube can and should count itself among the kings of content providers in any medium.

Those are all nice, big numbers, but it still doesn’t really help me understand why I watch this stuff. If I have an hour at night, and can choose between watching someone play a game or actually play one myself, why would I not choose the latter? I actually think the answer is as simple as the nature of the medium. I like games, am engaged by games, am very interested in games, but sometimes what I want is a passive experience.

What I don’t understand, though, is what I’m getting out of that deal. I’m usually not getting a narrative like I would on even the worst television show. I’m not getting the same kind of competitive play I would from watching sports, the “E” version or otherwise. In many cases I’m not even getting that great a viewing experience — rather getting stuttering video and often vapid chatter. Yet, I am compelled.

Usually when I’m in the same room with someone playing a game, my thoughts are on when I will have my turn. But, counting myself among the growing number of people who spend some part of their day tuned into the play of people I don’t know -- people who, frankly, I often don’t actually like all that much -- something is different about watching through the magic window of my laptop. The context changes and I don't care that I'm not playing. It is somehow like reality TV for internet-addicted gamers.

In my head I am inclined to equate both my interest and the interest of those umpteen-thousands to the growth of e-sports, and events like MLG, WCS and the like. But tuning in to casually watch someone streaming their ladder play on a Tuesday evening isn't actually the same. It's less like watching Monday Night Football and more like suddenly finding a way to watch Aaron Rodgers practice throwing footballs through a hoop in his backyard. And, now that I say that, I actually realize that if someone suddenly started streaming that, I’d very likely watch that too.

So why do this instead of actually play the games? It goes back to that active versus passive thing. Games are, by their nature, actually quite demanding of the gamer. They often force you to move quickly and accurately, to think about complex spaces or situations. They want more than your attention. They want your participation. Sometimes, I just don’t have that much to give. Sometimes, I think, I take almost a perverse pleasure in having someone else sort of do it for me.

I realize that essentially what I’ve just said is, “sometimes I’m too lazy to play a video game.” I guess I’m just going to have to live with that kind of self-awareness. But, hey. Apparently a few hundred thousand of you guys are too.

hmmm... haven't found myself saying I'd rather watch someone yet. I can generally find a game that will fit the pace I'm willing to go at. It's a very rare occasion where I do not feel up for actually playing a game when I sit down to do whatever for the night.

I tried watching some lets play stuff, and aside from Freeman's Mind, (which barely fits the category as it has the voice over added in post production) I can't get into them. Then again, I have refused to flip channels on the TV for more than 10 years now. If I don't know what I want to watch, I'm not watching TV.

I tried watching some lets play stuff, and aside from Freeman's Mind, (which barely fits the category as it has the voice over added in post production)

I feel like it's not uncommon for LPs to have voice added after the gameplay's recorded.

Shows you how much I know. I thought people did live recording as they played. I did skip my way through a few of Parallax Abstraction's videos recently. Those were better since they included history lessons on games I already knew I cared about. But I still skipped a lot.

I find myself watching streams a lot. I will often have a stream or two open most of the day.

I watch a lot of League of Legends and Binding of Isaac. Both are the games I play most often, but am not very good at. There is something about watching the best. I would liken it to watching Jeopardy!, professional sports, the World's Strongest Man competition, Iron Chef, the National Spelling Bee, etc. I have watched all of those things. I cannot compete in any of them.

There is something magical about watching someone accomplish something you know you never could. No matter how many hours I spent practicing, I could no more compete at MLG as I could in the NFL.

Fletcher wrote:

Wear the Filthy Skimmer badge with honor. For we have all, at one time or another, been filthy skimmers. And it is our brotherly duty to remind each other, that although the path of the skimmer is quick, it is also treacherous.

This is one of the ways you and I are different, the other way being that I don't watch "e-sports" games. I watch Twitch somewhat for the games being played, but mostly for the personality of the streamer and his/her interaction with their viewers via chat. Plenty of good times to be had.

It helps that I'm a telecommuter, so during slow parts of the day, I can have a Twitch stream running on my second monitor.

I don't know if my experience with watching someone play a game counts, but I remember back in the days when internet was in it's BBS years, we sqeezed into my buddy's small computer closet, and played Duke Nukem 3D or Strafe (anyone?) on his PC. We played there, because he had a better computer (oh my 386, where are you?). But part of it was of course having fun talk during the playthrough, commenting on the other's actions when you were not holding the mouse and defending your own actions when you did. But we were helping each other too. And we took the turns, yes. BUT. I still liked to watch my buddy play and was enjoying it maybe even better than playing myself and not because he would be so much better. I just felt sometimes so sucked in that it was great to give advices like "What was that, check those doors on the left." or something like that. Something that was not really challanging by itself, but I still could believe WE played it TOGETHER. Even if I wasn't actively playing. I know that people know this from their console experiences during a party etc, when you sat down on one couch and played side by side. We never had consoles (NES, XBOX etc.) around (a friend had Commodore64, and me Didaktik Gama - games on tapes, mind you...oh lord, but that hardly counts), so this was our experience of the same, I guess.

To sum it up, I love watching others playing games, no matter whether over their shoulders or through stream. Because you share their experience and their stories by that. And that is MUCH better than soap operas.

Part of the reason I like watching streaming gameplay is being a part of an experience as someone discovers areas of a game I have found interesting. For instance, watching someone play through the Walking Dead for the first time would be immensely entertaining for me. The other part is that it gives me a feeling of being more of a part of the gaming community, as there are usually a group of other people watching at the same time. Couple that with the ability to interact directly with the person streaming and it really does give one the feeling of being at a friend's house just hanging out.

What I find fascinating is what some streamers are doing aside from just having live Let's Play's or commenting on a LoL or SC2 match. For instance, one of the more interesting streams I came across is Bazza McMahon's Video Game Championship Wrestling. In this stream, Bazza has basically created a weekly wrestling show using custom characters created in WWE '13. You basically just watch the computer fight each other in matches created by Bazza based on whatever storyline is going on in the current season. It is really entertaining and talking with other people watching in the chat makes the whole experience much more memorable. Of course, this stream is directed at a specific audience, but it still shows different avenues that have yet to be explored.

Before SC2 I would have told you watching someone else play a game was a complete waste of time. I grew up sharing a controller with my brother when we were sick of things like Streets of Rage or the vs level of Mario 3.

In a lot of ways I think streaming has replaced walkthroughs and guides, but the community nature of it is a huge bonus. Now I can watch someone play through something I have struggled with, or something I have enjoyed. I can see their reaction to Smough and Ornstein for the first time, or I can ask the stream a question related to the game.

On the other side of the coin I can offer up advice and answer questions posed by the streamer. Helping someone through a tough area, and watching them do it with conversation along the way is a whole new type of interactive experience that pulls the human element back in.

That's how I roll too. I don't even watch TV anymore, expect for Mythbusters which I buy per episode on Amazon VOD. If I'm watching content on a screen, 90% of the time it's Twitch or Youtube. The other 0.9% of the time it's Netflix.

This part confuses me. There are a few people that I watched who were good at a game, but I stopped watching them after a couple of times because I didn't like their personality/attitude. If I can't enjoy the person the stream, then why bother watching it?

There's also just something amazing about watching someone who has mastered a game. I really enjoy watching some of the various speed running streamers for the classic console games. They can do some crazy things in those games.

This part confuses me. There are a few people that I watched who were good at a game, but I stopped watching them after a couple of times because I didn't like their personality/attitude. If I can't enjoy the person the stream, then why bother watching it?

You missed the part where Elysium doesn't like other people.

Hypatian wrote:

Words... are a big deal.

Enix wrote:

The only way writers are going to get better is if they get some decent damned editing.

This seems to be the closest we have to a Twitch catch-all, so I'll put this here.

There is now a countdown at http://store.twitch.tv/ that expires on Monday, April 7. I assume it will just a place for them to sell Twitch-branded merchandise, so I figured I'd post it in case anyone around here would be interested.

There is now a countdown at http://store.twitch.tv/ that expires on Monday, April 7. I assume it will just a place for them to sell Twitch-branded merchandise, so I figured I'd post it in case anyone around here would be interested.

The Twitch store is now live, and it's even less than I expected. It's just a hoodie and a t-shirt.